


From this to the next

by septnanis



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Childhood Memories, Drama, Fluff, Getting Together, Introspection, Kissing, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Riku is the light, Time Skips, Zine: Cross the Line - A Soriku Fanzine (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21543610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/septnanis/pseuds/septnanis
Summary: Three moments in time and one somewhere in between.A contribution for Cross the Line: a soriku zine.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	From this to the next

**Past**

If he hadn’t overheard them, would he feel different?

Nowadays it felt like he was constantly inside his own head, analyzing every detail of every interaction he had with his friends. Did they want him around, did they really want to leave, did they want to stay? That whispering voice in his head that almost sounded like it belonged to someone else. He tried to ignore it, tried to ignore the volatile emotions it drew from him. Most of the time he managed just fine.

But when he overheard Kairi asking Sora to leave with her — _just the two of us!_ — Riku almost felt an audible snap inside himself.

Whatever had been holding back those volatile emotions cracked and broke open like a dam that had been holding back too much water. The picture of them sitting there, completely at ease, the colors of the sunset framing them like something out of a fairy tale, made his stomach turn.

Riku wanted to believe Sora would never leave him behind.

But he hadn’t said _no_. He hadn’t said yes, but he hadn’t said no either. He didn’t say _Kairi, that’s crazy, what about Riku?_ If Sora thought about it, would he end up deciding that he would be better off leaving with just Kairi, even though it had been _Riku’s_ idea and the two of them would be hopelessly lost without him, because Sora may be scrappy, but he had zero discipline and no drive, and Kairi was just a silly girl…

Riku moved away from under the pier to the Secret Place. Something drew him there, and the voice that had been whispering in his head was suddenly loud and clear as a bell — _just the two of us, just the two of us, just the two of us_.

He entered the Secret Place, clumsy and stumbling over his own feet and he scraped his bare arm on the rough stone walls. When he stopped in the middle of the cave, he was breathing hard and his heart was pounding. His fists were curled into each other so tightly it should have hurt, but the pain wasn’t registering in his brain. The only thought on his mind was how they were going to leave him behind, _just the two of them._

Riku and Sora had been little when they drew it on the walls, the day after the meteor shower. Sora had never been so in awe of Riku as that evening, Riku's little wooden sword hefted into the sky like a legendary weapon. Looking back, Riku knew he should feel silly, but he didn’t. He felt righteous. That promise meant everything to him.

His head turned to the other side of the cave, and the drawing there made the voice in his head that had quieted for a moment flare up again.

_You wanted to try it, didn’t you?_ He asked Sora. The clumsy star shaped fruit that Sora had drawn made his stomach turn.

_Just the two of us, just the two of us, just the two of us…_

The rage he felt inside was incandescent, but outwardly he appeared calm.

His promise to keep Sora safe, to stay by his side, the promise he’d kept in his heart for all those years… it didn’t mean anything. Because Sora wanted to make a promise with someone else.

The voice in his head told him, _you could leave right now. Take him with you. You can go wherever you want. You’ll always be together. You just need to give into it._

Give into what?

_Give into the darkness._

He didn’t understand what that meant. But he looked back at the drawing of the meteor shower. His promise. He wasn’t going to break his promise now, or ever.

The second before he fell he wondered if he had made the right choice.

But he must have, because falling felt peaceful and like sleeping. Like dreaming.

And when he woke, they would be together.

All of them. Riku wouldn’t break his promise.

——

**Present**

“So, we’re looking for someone who looks like me?”

Yozora really was just so cool. Not as cool as Riku, obviously. Well, maybe he was, but Sora hadn’t known him for long and up until now, he had only known Yozora to be a video game character.

Sora almost cried when he found Yozora, but only because from behind, he thought it was Riku. They looked so alike it boggled his mind a little.

“Yeah!” Sora replied. “He’s my best friend and his name’s Riku. He’s got silver hair like you, but he’s a little taller,” Sora gestured at Yozora, who was frowning but still managed to look bemused. “And he’s got green eyes, not green like a tree, but green like sea glass.” Explaining it like that made his cheeks flush a little, although he didn’t know why.

Yozora nodded, starting to make his way down the street again. “How do you know he’s even here?”

Sora followed him and looked down at the blinking numbers on his palm. “I don’t know… I just feel it. I’ve always been able to follow his heart, but I think this time, he followed mine.”

Yozora looked at Sora while they walked, the scrutiny made Sora laugh nervously, one hand going to the back of his head. “Uhh, is there something on my face?”

The way Yozora shook his head was stoic, and Sora thought he made even that look cool. For long, silent moments they continued to walk down the streets before Yozora suddenly stopped, drawing his sword and his crossbow. On instinct, Sora summoned the Keyblade and let himself be pushed back. “Thought I felt something…” Yozora mumbled and Sora’s eyes narrowed.

“What if it’s Riku?” Sora mumbled, frowning but feeling hope start to grow in his heart. Still, he readied himself for a fight when Yozora moved his head slowly around the corner, just enough to see what was happening. Adrenaline was suddenly coursing through his veins, that familiar fight or flight instinct rushing up inside him.

Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be too much of a threat, because Yozora relaxed enough that Sora felt that urge to fight ebb away slowly, the Keyblade disappearing in a shower of golden light.

“You’re not exactly stealthy with that thing, are you?” Yozora asked, gesturing to Sora’s hand.

Sora laughed again, putting both hands behind his head. “Guess not! I’m not really the sneak up on ‘em kinda guy though, so it’s okay.”

They turned the corner and continued their trek through the big city where the sun never seemed to come up. For the first time Sora realised how bright the light could be when it was darkest, glittering and gleaming from the buildings and vehicles around them.

“Hey Sora,” Yozora said, still walking and not even looking back at him while he spoke. Sora quickened his pace so he fell into step beside him and hummed in response. “This Riku… he must be important to you, for him to end up here.”

Riku was his best friend, of course that meant he was important to him. But Sora had gotten better at noticing when people said one thing and meant something else entirely. And there was something about Yozora’s tone that made Sora blink twice.

“He is!” Sora agreed, not wanting to be suspicious. “He’s always getting me out of trouble. And I ah, get in trouble a lot.”

Suddenly he realised he’d have to face Riku, when it was _Riku_ who had sent Sora off to find Kairi and assured everyone Sora could be trusted to do it. Even though he found Kairi and brought her back safe, he still managed to fail somehow. One day Riku was going to get tired of cleaning up his messes. The thought made Sora’s heart skip an anxious beat.

“This game…. it requires an entry fee, something that’s precious to you,” Yozora explained. He’d explained it to him before, but also then Sora hadn’t quite understood. “I think maybe Riku is your entry fee. And if you lose…”

Sora’s heart clenched at the idea that something could happen, not only to him but also Riku, if he lost.This was more than just getting Sora out of trouble. He should have listened to Riku when he'd offered to make a plan. This was why he wasn’t a Master, why it had taken him so long to get the Power of Waking back and why he still didn’t know how to use it properly.

“What’s wrong?” Yozora said, throwing Sora a look over his shoulder as he stopped as well.

“That’s… that’s not fair!” Sora burst out. “What does Riku have to do with this? Why should he be punished because I’m not good enough?”

The narrowing of Yozora’s eyes reminded Sora of Riku again, and he felt a lump in his throat that he couldn’t swallow down.

“That’s what you got out of that?” Yozora asked, his brown quirking. “You need to think about what I just said. And don’t focus on the entry fee part. Focus on the other part.” He said it like he was explaining it to a child, but for once Sora didn’t mind the tone. His mind was going a mile a minute, going over Yozora’s words, trying to understand.

_It requires an entry fee._ He wasn’t supposed to focus on that, even though his stomach was in knots over what that meant.

_Something that’s precious to you._ Riku’s life was precious to him, he didn’t want anything to ever happen to him.

_I think maybe Riku is your entry fee._

Images rushed through Sora’s head and his hand reached up to touch his chest, his heart beating against his palm. With every beat he saw the way Riku looked at him, the way he spoke to him that was so different from the way he spoke to anyone else, the way he stood, when everything seemed lost and hopeless, and walked towards...

Riku’s life wasn’t the entry fee, because Riku had already given his life for him. The memory came rushing back and he fell to his knees, and it was almost painful, a light so bright it almost burned. A memory that wasn’t supposed to exist, steady footsteps towards the gargantuan storm of Heartless. After everyone had been carried away, had looked on as their doom swept them away, Riku had stood before Sora — he’d given up, just _given up_ — and did what he’d promised so long ago that he would do.

_I’ll protect you from the meteors, Sora! I’ll protect you from anything!_

Sora didn’t know much about death, and Riku had faced his own, even though he must have been so afraid. All because he promised Sora he’d protect him.

Sora didn’t know much about love, and Riku had looked at him the way he did, smiled at him the way he did, sent Sora away even though it meant breaking his own promise because he wanted Sora to believe in himself.

Just as Yozora walked up to him to help, a bright light suddenly filled the street. Sora heard Yozora drawing his weapon, but even though he wanted to, Sora couldn’t concentrate enough to summon the Keyblade.

When the light faded, a familiar — beloved — voice said his name in that way only that voice could.

“Sora?”

He looked up and saw his best friend, looking confused at suddenly being where he was and giving Yozora a look that was halfway between confusion and distrust.

Sora picked himself up clumsily and ran on unsteady feet towards him. The light that had guided him throughout his entire journey, it had been Riku the whole time. And he may not know what that meant, what the feeling was that rushed through him now — even better than adrenaline before battle or even better than making a new friend — but he was going to find out.

When he threw his arms around his best friend, he didn’t know if it was Riku’s own arms that wrapped around him or the light that had been in front of him the whole time.

——

**Future**

“Oof!” Sora exclaimed, bumping up his back against Riku’s. They’d been fighting for what seemed like forever, but if anything, his exhilaration was at its peak level. 

Strands of Riku’s hair hit him in the face when the other man swung his head to the side. “You getting tired, yet?” Sora recognised the tone in Riku’s voice. Neither of them were violent or went looking for conflict, but when they were in the thick of it, something just clicked in the right way. A feeling of belonging, of _this is what I was made for._

“As if!” Sora swung his Keyblade at a Heartless with large teeth and claws that seemed to have come out of nowhere. The Keyblade went through the Heartless in a quick series of attacks and it disappeared in a cloud of darkness. “I could do this all day!”

“We _have_ been doing this all day,” Riku ground out, rushing past Sora to unleash his own attack on a Heartless that had crept up on him. Then another and another, until RIku's face was flushed and his breathing was quick.

A battle with a couple dozen Heartless probably wasn’t the most appropriate place to be reminiscing about how far they had come from where they started. How afraid they had been when the Keyblade had first come to them. A strange, great destiny that was old hat by now, a part of who they were and not something they often thought about anymore.

He swung his Keyblade at another enemy with a loud cry and when he landed, his eyes settled on Riku. The other man had always had an innate grace, ever since he was young. Sora used to tease him that he should have become a dancer, instead of a Keyblade Master. After that, Riku had swept him up in his arms and danced him around the room, laughingly teasing back how he could be both, as long as Sora didn’t mind dancing with him.

Sora didn’t mind.

Sora watched how effortlessly he moved, the only telling sign of his fatigue that his cheeks were flushed and his breathing was quicker than before. The practiced turn of his arms and the fluent way he dodged an enemy, like river water rushing around stones in its path.

“Riku!” Sora cried out. The other turned to him, always that glimmer of concern when Sora cried out his name in the middle of a battle. There were only a few Heartless left, but Sora couldn’t wait. He realised he’d been waiting for so long. He wanted to know if Riku felt the same as he did.

They’d been together for several years now, but they never really discussed the future. They were together and that was what mattered. But Sora wanted to discuss it now. He wanted to set it in stone.

He remembered pinky promises and Paopu fruits and how silly all that seemed now.

“What’s wrong?” Riku called back as he cut his way through another Heartless. Sora knew he’d be getting a lecture later, but he didn’t care and ran through a Heartless that separated Riku and himself like a knife through paper, eager to get to his side. “Sora, what on earth…”

Sora wrapped a hand around one of Riku’s arms, Keyblade in the other hand. “We should get married,” he said, not even a question.

Riku’s eyes went wide as dinner plates, and then his brow furrowed. He pushed Sora out of the way and swung his Keyblade down on another enemy that had come up behind Sora. Definitely a lecture, later.

“Timing, Sora!” Riku said in an aggravated tone. His eyes though, when he turned back to him, looked apprehensive.

Riku was always like that, whenever Sora offered him something he knew would make him happy. Even after all these years, as if Sora could offer it, but Riku was never worthy of taking it, of even wanting it. “Too bad! I’ve decided and we should!”

It was the most unromantic proposal, his timing was terrible and he was putting himself and Riku in danger by acting like they weren’t in a life threatening situation. He couldn’t keep it in any longer, he should’ve said it years ago, how could he have ever thought his life would go anywhere but in this direction. Sora and Riku had spent years standing face to a face, a line of friendship and love between them.

He wanted to cross that line. He was going to.

“Okay,” Riku replied, his voice soft despite the adrenaline. He spun around and cut down one of the few remaining Heartless. “Can we just… finish this first? I want…”

Sora nodded and spun into action, driven by something that came from the deepest part of his heart. Whatever remained of their enemies was dealt with swiftly and soon enough it was just the two of them, standing across from one another.

“You…” Riku began. “You want to get married.”

“To you,” Sora nodded enthusiastically, stepping closer to him. “Of course!”

Riku closed the remaining distance with a step of his own, until they were standing chest to chest, and leaned his face down until their noses were almost touching. “Then yes. Your timing is awful but I think this may be one of your best ideas.” He lifted his hands and cupped Sora’s face.

Sora melted into the hold and put his hands on Riku’s waist. “We should tell everyone,” He sighed. When Riku gave him a puzzled look, he grinned. “So that they put this in the story!”

“What are you talking about?” Riku asked, looking fondly down at his best friend, rubbing his nose against Sora’s.

“One day, someone’s gonna write a story about us,” Sora explained, blue eyes meeting green — like _sea glass_ , Sora thought — before sighing again. “They have to put this part in.”

Riku smiled at him, still fond. He crossed what little distance remained between them and kissed him, lips and cheeks warm against his own.

“I didn’t get you a ring,” Sora bemoaned when they pulled away from one another.

Riku laughed and took Sora’s hand in his own. “That’s okay,” He replied and leaned down to press a kiss Sora’s ringfinger. It felt like a promise and Sora’s heart skipped so many beats he thought he might fall over.

Riku had made Sora promises before.

This one felt like forever.

——

**Somewhere in time**

“You underestimated him,” A voice from behind the Master spoke. Luxu always did have a knack for pointing out the obvious.

The Master held the chess piece in his hand, the little crown glittering in the sunlight. He set it back on the board and sighed. “Nah, I knew exactly what he was. Spent too many years getting my expectations kicked back in my face to start underestimating him now.”

Luxu came up behind his Master. “Master?”

With a scoff, the Master picked up another piece on the board. The heart symbol on top had never given Luxu much pause. The man it represented had never seemed relevant enough.

“I kept thinking he was just there to spice up the story a little,” The Master said, throwing the piece up and down in his hand. “You know, from best friends to adversary to best friends. It makes for a compelling story.”

Luxu didn’t see where the Master was going with this.

“But he was the light all along,” He picked up the crown piece and held them together, one in each hand. “And now that they’ve figured it out, all bets are off.”

“So, this is where it ends, huh?” Luxu asked, coming to stand side by side with the Master, looking down at the chessboard where all the pieces were scattered, some knocked over, some still standing. A chaotic array of destiny.

The Master laughed and set the two pieces down in the middle of the board, side by side in the middle of all that chaos, a shining heart and a shining crown together.

“No,” He said and let go of the pieces. “This is where it begins.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was sooo excited when I heard I was accepted into this zine. The end product is beyond belief, so many talented artists and writers made their contribution and it's been such a great pleasure being a part of that. If you're interested in a copy (the physical copies are sold out but you can still get a digital one!) please check it out at https://crossthelinezine.bigcartel.com. There's also beautiful merch to get your hands on!
> 
> The theme was obviously Cross the Line and I immediately thought of Utada Hikaru's kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me three times and decided to write three pivotal moments in time of their relationship. The last part was a little self-indulgent because I look forward to seeing how the Master of Masters deals with the two of them. 
> 
> A very special shout-out and huge thank you to Fireborn (https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fireborn) for being a wonderful beta. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and you can find me on Twitter at @laughertea.


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